Book Title: The Bow II: Forbidden Romance
Author: Jay Tripp
Publisher: J T Print and Publishing Services, LLC
Cover Artist: Olivia Pro Designs
Release Date: April 2, 2021
Genre/s: Contemporary M/M Romance
Trope/s: Forbidden love
Themes: Coming out, forgiveness
Length: 85 000 words/ 331 pages
It is part 2 of a series
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Blurb
Brandon and Tyler have been together for five years and things have gotten stale. Tyler’s career has taken off while Brandon is struggling to make his mark in the world of journalism. With Tyler away on assignments so often, Brandon is left to cope with his loneliness. In the meantime, flames from the past come to heat up the scene and cause problems for Brandon and Tyler.
“Baby, I’ve missed you so much. How was your drive?”
“It was okay. Tyler and I switched it up. It was long, but we made it. I’m just tired,” I replied.
“Awe, I wish I was there to give you a massage. You deserve one,” Orlando said.
“Yeah,” I said looking at Tyler who sat looking straight ahead because he knew was about to come. Somehow, I could see a smile of satisfaction on his face. He was enjoying this.
“What’s wrong?” Orlando asked.
“Nothing is wrong. I told you I am tired,” I lied. Actually, I was tired, but I dreaded having to tell Orlando the truth.
“Hmm…nah, it seems like there is something else wrong,” Orlando said.
stretched
“I’m good. It’s just been a long and eventful day,” I said as I kicked out my legs with a little stretching sound.
“Okay, well tell me about it.”
“There is nothing to tell,” I replied.
Why was I being so evasive? Of course, there was
something to tell. A whole lot to tell. First, Tyler is gay just as Orlando predicted. Also like he predicted, he pursued me right afterwards. I needed to quit playing and tell Orlando the truth.
“You know I do this for a living right? I can hear it in your voice,” he said.
He was right. I couldn’t fool him and I shouldn’t have wanted to fool him either. Orlando hadn’t given me any reason to believe he deserved to be lied to. I won’t lie to him so here goes…
“Okay, you are right Orlando. I really don’t know how to tell you this. I guess I should just say it. You were right about Tyler. He came out to me, before our last date. I just didn’t tell you about it. I considered it confidential. However, last night, he confessed his love for me and well, I mean… you know how I feel about him. I think I want to explore things with Tyler.” The line was quiet.
“So, you are telling me…what exactly?” Orlando replied.
I see he is not going to make this easy for me. I should’ve known a damn therapist would respond that way. I looked out the window at the tree tops skirting by as we drove. I wanted to be one of them—stoic and not having to deal with the conversation at hand.
“I’m saying…in order for me to explore things with Tyler, I will have to cut things off with you,” I said.
“You know something…this is my own fault. I knew you and that boy had something going on subconsciously, and like a fool, I still pursued you. But, let me correct you on something. I didn’t know a damn thing about you wanting to be with Tyler. Yeah, I may have had my opinion about it, but you tried to be so fucking coy about it. It’s all good though. You guys should enjoy your lives together,” Orlando said.
“Orlando, don’t be upset. You were right, and I should have listened to you,” I replied.
“I’m good,” he responded. His tone became nonchalant. I could tell he was trying to be cool about it.
“No, you are not. You are doing that same shit you did yesterday, shutting down and stuff,” I said, trying to keep
my voice at a low level. Tyler looked over at me. He knew things were exploding.
“I mean, at this point sir, you don’t owe me any explanations, and I don’t owe you any either. You have stated what you want. He’s there with you now, so go get what it is that you want. Problem solved!”
“Can you be an adult about this, please?” I asked.
“What’s with you? Adults get fucking hurt and pissed about shit. They get mad, they curse, they scream, they honk fucking horns in traffic. That’s all adult shit. So stop telling me to be an adult. None of that has shit to do with the fact that you have led me on. But like I said, it’s my fault. I should have known better than to let my guard down like this anyway after four fucking days. Yeah, it’s my fault.” I heard things slamming in the background. He was clearly upset. I didn’t know if he was at his office, or home, or what.
“I don’t want you to think that I am blaming you for all of this nor do I want you to pretend like you don’t have feelings about it all. I want us to be able to remain friends if that’s possible,” I said.
“Friends? Hell no! I can’t be your friend. Not after this. Not after I started developing feelings for you. No. As a matter of fact, we should end it here,” he said.
“So, what about the internship?” I asked.
“Consider that offer rescinded. Do you honestly think that we can work with each other after this? You are tripping if you think that.”
“Okay, well I won’t press that any further. I mean, you have every right to change your mind on that,” I said.
“You damn right I do. Look, I got to go. It was nice knowing you the short period I have known you. You can move forward with Tyler. I hope you guys have a nice life.”
Wow, Orlando is brutal when he has been hurt. That’s a typical scorpion.
“I’m sorry, Orlando. I hope that one day we can be friends,” I replied.
“Yeah don’t wait for that. Talk to you later sometime.” The call ended. I genuinely felt bad. Orlando is such a great guy. I feel like I have hurt him for no good reason. But I love Tyler and Tyler is who I want. I just hoped that I was making the best decision. Orlando is so handsome, so cultured, so wise and such a nurturer. Tyler can be all of those things too, but I am running a risk with him because he was DL and, in my opinion, he still is to some degree. Will I be able to have the type of relationship with Tyler that I probably could have with Orlando? Only time will tell. I dare not share those thoughts with him as he looked over to me and grabbed my hand.
“You okay, love?” he asked.
Jay Tripp, Jr is a contemporary LGBT author. He has written two novels, with this one being the trilogy in his The Bow series. The Bow is his first adult fiction series.
Tripp is an advocate for equal rights for socially marginalized groups. He writes to affect change in attitudes towards those groups. By changing the narrative and educating his readers through his works, he progressively helps to erase the stigmas and eliminate the stereotypes of those communities.
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